Recent reviews by Marneus

Skyrim with gameplay.
The writing of most of the main content is absolutely abysmal and sad. Most of the side content ranges from decent to forgettable filler, but all of it makes the world feel more alive. The core gameplay loop still works well despite how bastardized it's been. Somehow I find base building enjoyable, especially with the vault building DLC.

The game shows its age and has a pretty slow start, but if you're willing to put up with it, there is a lot of great things to be found in here. It does Fallout better than 3 and consistently has a better writing and implementation of quests and dialog that any other Bethesda title.

It's good to be back.

An ode to the visual style, gameplay and humour of build engine games and mods. While the gameplay is a bit stiff there is a satisfying quantity of content on offer.
It is also a neat companion piece to Hypnospace Outlaws, even if it is narrativelly quite inferior, it's a good time if you like old style boomer shooters.

It's like if Deus Ex and Hotline Miami had a special needs child whose extra chromosome came from from LSD Dream Emulator.

Pretty good, even better with friends, and for a good price too!

The greatest game made on the build engine... yet! If you're into old school FPS, this game should be a no brainer for you.

While the whole "made on build" aspect of the game might make it look like a novelty game, this is a lengthy and meaty experience, reminiscent of Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, Shadow Warrior or Outlaws. While Ion Fury borrows a bit of its identity to the previously mentioned games it still has a distinct game design going for it with a nice and unique enemy roster as well as original weapons to deal with them.

I appreciated the smart ramp up in enemy power and placement, the increasingly populated levels making for long action packed fights. The map design is open and memorable, even if it leans a bit too much on industrial labs, it keeps introducing new elements like pipes and water flow to keep things fresh. The number of secrets is staggering, rewarding exploration, but might get overwhelming after a while.

My only issue with the game is the constant barrage of references to other games and franchises, taking me out of the experience a bit. While it's funny when you stumble upon an obscure Chopping Mall reference, the ever present reminders that Duke and Blood exist take away from the impressive work that has been done to make Ion Fury its own thing.

Overall a excellent investment if you're into old school FPS.

It pains me to be forced to put a negative review because this game has a lot going for it and many qualities that are extremely rare to find in the current market.

The art direction is almost spotless, really reminiscent of Quake 3 Arena of course; the maps are heavily detailed and filled to the brim with personality and atmosphere, and yet they are easy enough to traverse quickly while hopping around. The sound design is great and the music is absolutely amazing. Even more importantly, the core gameplay is solid, the gunfight is exemplar, responsive and fun, and the classes add an interesting twist to the classic Quake formula without feeling too bloated.

Now my problem with this game stems from everything that's not in it and that prevents it for being massively played. The lack of third party map support, workshop integration, an actual server browser and the ability to host dedicated servers make or break the communities of game like this, and the intent to monetize everything at some point or another is clear from the get go. All these missing elements are what is killing the player base of what should have been a memorable title. The lack of meaningful updates makes it feel like the game has been abandoned before it even came out.

It's a shame, but I'm still willing to give it a go every once in a while to see the direction set the dev team.

While dated and a bit unintuitive, this is one of the greatest 4X ever made. The Star Wars theme enhances the core gameplay and allows for nice story interactions between characters.
To me this is the perfect Star Wars game.

This graphical roguelike is possibly the best way to experience many of the aspects the genre has to offer, but is flexible enough to accomodate more 'casual' players.

Roguelikes aren't for everyone, but this game truly is, with its colorful and funny graphics, the witty writing, the complex yet entertaining build system, the optional perma-death; this is the perfect way to experience the funny random nature so intrinsic to the genre with much less of the frustrations that are inherent to it.
The engine is a bit dated and janky, but the game is extensible and customizable which is a big plus in its favor, making an inherently replayable game even more replayable!